The end of the year is almost here and what an exciting year it has been for Yorktown! This past year was the transition year during which the former Yorktown Child and Family Centre and former Yorktown Shelter for Women prepared to merge as one, to become Yorktown Family Services. This is a monumental milestone for us and we are so proud of how far our organization has come in the last 25years. As of April 1, 2018, we officially became one agency. We also advanced the implementation of our five-year strategic plan, stronger together, as one organization. Our three key strategic priorities are:
- Investing in Our Organization
- Organizational Learning and Innovation
- Partnerships and Advocacy
It was a year full of planning and behind-the-scenes activity to advance Yorktown’s strategic priorities and pave the way for exciting changes to come in 2019. These changes will not only bring immediate benefit to the women, children, youth, fathers and families in our communities, they are strategically designed to enable Yorktown to continue to respond to the needs of communities while remaining aligned with the goals and objectives of our funding partners.
Investing in our organization began with Yorktown’s connection to a remarkably forward thinking organization, Capitalize for Kids that focuses on supporting children’s mental health organizations through transformative change. This partnership began at an optimal time as Yorktown was focusing on enhancing efficiencies and eliminating redundant administrative tasks. Great strides were made this past year! The project will be completed in 2019 and will enable us to continue to enhance our clients’ experience with programs and services.
Organizational learning and innovation included the planning and ramping-up of a new model of service. The former “Yorktown YouthSpace” at the Jane St. Hub has evolved to become the West Toronto Youth Hub (WTYH) and will provide an integrated collaborative care service delivery model. There was a ribbon cutting ceremony in December 2018 to symbolize the evolution from the YouthSpace to the WTYH. Please stay tuned for the official launch event and open house in 2019.
Yorktown will continue to provide our Youth Mentorship Program and parenting programs for youth parents but will also offer a youth-focused mental health walk-in service and psychiatric consultation through Tele-Mental Health video conferencing. We will also be introducing a highly successful drug and alcohol prevention and education program called “Choices” in January, for youth ages 12 – 18. As well, Yorktown welcomes Reconnect Community Health Services as an on-site partner at WTYH and together we will ensure a smooth transition for young adults to adult mental health services.
Partnerships and advocacy have always been an area of strength for Yorktown. 2018 was a year of joining forces with new partners, planning new projects with existing partners, and advancing initiatives that were set in motion in prior years. In the coming year we will continue to enhance the Tele-Mental Health video conferencing program that was launched in 2017 at our 2010 Eglinton Ave. West location to provide professional development for our staff, in addition to psychiatric consultation to children, youth and families. This outstanding program is offered in partnership with The Hospital for Sick Children. From this location, we also implemented a critical new program for infant mental health called Baby Love. Also offered in partnership with The Hospital for Sick Children, the launch of the program in October, 2018 was extremely well received by the first cohort of Baby Love participants!
Investment in support networks for children and youth is fundamental to their well-being. To achieve this, Yorktown created the Mindful Fathering Program, 10 years in the making, and trademarked in 2014. Mindful Fathering is designed to enable men to be the best fathers that they can be. Mindful Fathering is now recognized across the Violence Against Women sector as an important intervention in keeping both women and children safe. Mindful Fathering has been designed to enable men in any community to bring positive change to their relationships with their children. In 2018, Yorktown’s Mindful Fathering Program Facilitators trained representatives from the YWCA of York, in Pennsylvania to bring this incredible program to their community!
Other news and updates from 2018 include a breakthrough for the Violence Against Women (VAW) sector. The WomanAct advocacy group helped the VAW sector achieve a significant milestone in communication between the VAW sector and the housing sector. This development breaks down silos and barriers to communication between the two sectors, improving access to service for women and children fleeing violence.
This year, we were proud to present Kate and David Daniels with the Yorktown Family Services Humanitarian Award for Community Service. Kate and David are remarkable philanthropists who give of their time, influence and resources to bring positive change to communities. The Tribute Dinner in honour of Kate and David was an outstanding success and raised over $230,000 for Yorktown! We thank David and Kate for their commitment to bringing positive change to our communities. We are thrilled to announce that Charlie Angelakos, Vice President, Legal and Corporate Affairs at Labatt Breweries of Canada will be the 20th recipient of this prestigious award on May 15, 2019 at the beautiful Carlu event space.
As we review the past year in which we became stronger through our remarkable partnerships and by unifying as one larger organization; we recognize that none of the milestones achieved, none of the accomplishments, and none of the promises of great things to come for our clients and our community could have been achieved had it not been for the dedication, commitment and unwavering investment in the Yorktown culture by our outstanding staff. Dispersed throughout West Toronto, at three core locations, numerous satellite locations, and at-large in the community reaching out to youth and connecting women to services and support, Yorktown staff are the foundation on which Yorktown Family Services stands. We extend heart-felt appreciation and admiration to the people who make Yorktown the caring, nimble, responsive, and forward-thinking organization that it is, and with them, we are ready to help West Toronto build a brighter future.
We look forward to exciting things to come in 2019 for the Yorktown Community!